I consider myself lucky.
Not only have my boys had a year of school that has been inspiring to them, but so have I. It has been great to watch my older son spend hours on a school project, not because he has to, but because he is so into it, he doesn’t want t stop!
I loved having my younger soon retell me “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, repeatedly, because he enjoyed it so much! Their enthusiasm is contagious. I have also had the opportunity to be involved in various other school related processes, and have been working with teachers and parents whose dedication and passion to contributing to the development of children is motivating.
At a meeting with a few of these passionate people recently, we were discussing what we wanted our children to get out of these precious and yet short lived years, and in sum we all agreed it was inspiration.
Of course I had to look up the definition of inspire: “to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence”. The first word that struck me here was “influence”. It makes me think of the role teachers have. Most children spend the majority of their daytime hours at school, with teachers. That allows lots of time for influencing, if not inspiring, of our children.
I recall my own process of deciding on schooling for my first son, a process that started when he was still in diapers. After many years, and a few trials, I knew in my heart what I wanted most was for my children to have positive influence for their formative years. The influence of these years not only can build a love of learning, but their overall character too.
Never in all my thought about their development, did I think of my own development along the way. And yet I am learning along with them. My children continue to inspire me every day – to learn, to be a better person, to be, as Ghandi said, “the change I want to see in the world”, through the cycle of their own inspiration, which is largely influenced by their teachers. I suppose inspiration is a gift that keeps on giving!
I also like the word “quickening” to describe inspiration, because there truly is a quickening of heart and mind when one is inspired! I wish I had had such an education when I was in my years of schooling. But another thing I have learned through this, is that it is never too late to be inspired, and that the influence of teachers goes way beyond only the day-to-day interaction with the children.
A thank you, to my sons’ teachers, and to teachers everywhere who are making the world a better place, maybe without even realizing it.
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